Training Days
by FullstopBlaster
Summary: Ironhide's internal struggle is getting worse by the day can he and optimus work out their troubles? Or does trouble always seem at Hide's heels?. Ironhide X Optimus Prime mention RatchXJolt different POVs in some places Mostly Ironhide or Optimus
1. Grounded

Training Days:

Chapter 1: Grounded

_I would like to think that the transgressions of the past are welled up in some distance space, that they acknowledged; are forgiven and pass into non existence. I dwell on those transgressions. Sometimes I feel I am no better than my decepticon brothers, I have killed many in this Civil war, and it brings my spark no peace. It fills me, fuels me for the next battle, and I feel it's not very 'Autobot' of me. There would be something to say for being sorry, but even that, I'm not. It weighs heavy on me more and more. _

"You ok out here?" Prowls voice broke my mental dialogue. "I know it seems terrible, but Earth isn't so bad." He said stepping forward slowly. His dark Optics looked me over once, his hands clutched his data pad.

"No it's not." I reply softly trying to be nice, I look out to the trees as the setting sun's final rays drain down past the horizon. I lean forward on the railing and look out, surprisingly it holds my weight, it was not made to do so.

"You look extra shiny tonight." The Strategist walked up to my flank, looking out over the edge of the building into the night leaning on the same rail on which I now lean, mimicking my stance. His head turning to me slowly a slighted gaze escaping him and a sigh.

"Lennox…gave me a wash and wax." I say quietly hoping to appease the strategist's inquisitive mind. I would never admit it but I enjoyed the buffer the humans use to remove the wax, for the first time in a long time I felt relief on my sore joints. I sighed and turned around facing away from my companion leaning my back against the rail.

"The clean suits you." He nodded and I was at my breaking point for this conversation. "Don't think I've ever seen you so well kept."

"Did you need Something Prowl?" I turned, wanting him to get to the point. My arms folded across my chest now; obviously I'd had enough of this. I don't like being toyed with, even on a good day.

"Optimus and I hadn't seen you, we were curious as to where you had run off, your last encounter with Starscream and all…" My hand went up more to stop his talking and a bit as a warning. I did not need a lecture from Prowl of all Autobots least of all did I feel my attitude warranted a lecture from him.

"I'm fine." I protested quietly.

"I don't think so…I think the Raptor got to your pride." He says turning "beat you and you don't want to admit it." He said pushing off the rail he was leaning on following my stride to the other side of the roof.

"Is there a point to this little 'talk'?" It came out angrier than I had intended, but I was becoming increasingly frustrated with this interrogation. I started to tap my foot against the floor. The many plates that spread to make my foot each making a different sound from the next.

"Optimus is worried about you, why don't you go talk to him." He said eyes light and airy "very nice Ironhide." I feel a finger run down the side panel of my rear mirrors and I flinch moving from him. I hate when he gets like this.

"You can go to pit." I say in return as he vanishes down the back of the building. I wondered what in the name of primus was going on. I have never complained, not once about any of my battles or encounters. It might be possible they think I am bottling it up, he did beat me and good, I lost my left arm. I reach to the joint touching the scar plate softly. Ratchet had reattached it but I still didn't enjoy getting partially dismembered. I was still sore and would be for what Ratchet would only call a 'long while.'

I just wanted to move on and get to the next mission; we were tracking a couple of rogue Decepticons that had been seen in the Midwestern united states. Wheelie had shown Mikaela the locations of the other seekers, and the one in Illinois was of great interest to Optimus. I don't know why he thinks this is important: most of the seekers were flyers, and I wasn't sure if this was the best way to go about recruiting more Cybertronians to our cause, but Optimus believed that when Jetfire had defected to the autobots his brothers and sisters may have done so as well. Lennox was preparing the trailers for our transport.

I turned to leave the roof, and saw Optimus behind me peering onto the roof. He motioned me down and vanished. I sighed quietly, my vents spilling cool air over my systems. Making my way down off the roof I made for his location behind the arsenal shed, away from everyone, I knew this would not be an 'on the record' meeting.

"Ironhide." Optimus looked down at me as I walked toward him. I look to my left and right to see who's about and look toward him as I see no one else, we are alone. He turns slowly the panel that covered his dental sliding back.

"You wished to speak with me Sir?" I ask crossing my arms about my torso, if only in an effort to keep my hands still. I get nervous when it's just the two of us, I hate reviews and I hate being judged. Even if I'm not the first Bot to admit it, but looking down prime and explaining yourself is hard.

"Are you sure you're ok?" He asked me in a concern filled voice. Prime and his genuine concern, I try to stare him down, but can't for long before I answer him optics darting to the left and the right.

"Optimus." I sigh "I'm going to be fine." My arms fall to my sides and I have no idea what else to say to him to appease his curiosity. I have no excuse or answer to give him.

"Going to be…and are…" he reminds me "are two different things." He sits down on a large trash container and looks to me again a hand on his knee joint he looks the image of an old man, but with half the parts from Jeftfire it's not far from the truth. "You were sufficiently damaged…Starscream got the better of you."

"Ratchet was able to repair most of the damage I suffered." I reply softly to him. "And the seeker didn't get away undamaged himself." I remind him.

"You and I have been doing this a long time old friend." He says, always the teacher this one. I shift my weight from my left leg to my right and wait for him.

"Your point Sir?" I ask softly, I don't want to upset him but I want him to get to it. I hate interrogations, unless I'm the one giving them.

"You're not going to the Midwest with us." My jaw hinge is broken I think. I look at him blankly. His optics don't leave mine, and he's dead serious.

"Of course I am." I say in protest, he can't do this to me not now I look at both my arm mounted cannons. "Optimus what if this Seeker is hostile…I am the specialist." I still continue to protest this decision.

"I have a fine group assembled…and will most likely not need you this time." He said looking at me "you're not ready for battle just yet my friend, you will be staying here...I do not think this encounter will turn violent." Again he may have to pick my jaw plate off the ground. He's keeping me here under Ratchet's order, I'll have to ask him later if he put prime up to this.

"Optimus.." I begin to protest a hand raised finger pointed at him.

"That's an order." He cuts in against my words his own hand pointing me down. I stand there my arm going slack to my side. I give a simple nod; it's all I can do. Good soldier and all that. I look down at the ground trying to find some way to change his mind searching my processor. He's quiet as he rises and puts a hand on my shoulder "you need rest." I really want to say something now. "When I feel you are sufficiently rested I will place you back on active duty." I worry now for that statement. It's up to Optimus not Ratchet.

"Am I remanded to base?" I hope he knows what I am asking. I don't want to be stuck here in the dark all day long with humans by myself.

"You may continue to front as Lennox's personal vehicle." He smiled a bit at me hand pulling from my shoulder "I know you enjoy it…and he will want to go to his dwelling soon."

"It's something to do." I say.

Optimus looked up pushing me off the subject of work. "We leave in the morning; you will be responsible to look after Skids while we are away."

"You're taking Mudflap and leaving Skids?" I ask confused shaking my head Skids had been hurt in the Starscream assault as well, more so than I, and we didn't have all the sufficient parts to repair him and myself.

"Skids isn't ready to leave his leg is still not fully repaired and Ratchet doesn't have the time to do the repair to the servo before we leave." He says to me with stern eyes. "You and skids will be alright will you not?" I want to shake my head no, but nod in simple response. I can handle a youngling like him, at least I think I can, and I prey to primus they are less annoying apart as they are together.

"We'll be fine." I say and turn making my way to my hanger. I stop short and turn back.

"I would expect as much." He starts to turn but I stop him trotting back up to his left side.

"Optimus I would like to have training games upon your return." I say, it's been on my mind a while but I have yet to approach him with it. "I will require the back training field."

"Training for everyone?" he stops and looks down. "Games?"

"Yes" I take a breath to steady myself "Um…to help with training and overall moral…there will be a group effort and then individual matches on a team bracket." That's how Prowl would have put it.

"Sounds interesting…permission granted…I can't wait to see what you've come up with Ironhide. A bit of competition would do us all some good." Optimus turned slowly with a small wave and walked away. I walked toward the far hanger, I shared with Ratchet and Jolt. I didn't want to go in just yet. I looked out and saw the twins sitting out on one of our transport trailers on the tarmac. The stars spilled over the sky as the two looked on.

"Look there!" Skids pointed a hand "Shooting star!"

"Aren't ya saposta make a wish or something?" Mudflap asked.

"I dunno Google it." Skids shrugged.

"You ready to go in bro?" Mudflap asked standing up. "It's late I gotta go in the morning."

"Yeah help me." Skids rose up a hand "I wish I could go tomorrow."

"I wish I could just stay…I gotta stay with Ratchet the whole day." Mudflap admitted and helped skids to his one good leg "Careful…you get anymore hurt Ratchet will yell at us some more…don't need that." Skids nodded in agreement.

"He's cranky sometimes."

"I'm ok." Skids replied quietly limping next to his brother. I shake my head and walk forward enough for mudflap to catch me. He stops and looks up. "Ironhide?" Skids asks "we were just looking at the stars…"

"You're not in trouble…you should be inside though." I say walking around to the other side of skids and lifting him up in my arms. "Come on…let's get you bots back to your hanger you both need recharge before tomorrow…If Ratchet or Sideswipe catch you out here you're both going to get it."

"Ratchet the hatchet." Mudflap laughs. I turn and shake my head.

"You haven't seen him do medical work in the middle of a war son." I say.

"Hope I won't have to." Mudflap's quiet reply.

"That's a smart conclusion." I give him credit for it. They aren't the smartest bots on earth but they're not the dumbest that's for certain.

"I don't like the idea of being alone with the humans …" Skids says and I blink my optics slowly and let out a long sigh.

"I will be remaining at the base with you." I tell him much to my own dismay. I lift him up a bit to hold him better and keep walking slowly, Mudflap to my left.

"Really?" I keep my optics forward as Skids asks in disbelief. I can see them exchange glances as we walk. "Awesome...I think." I look at skids now as we approach the hanger. Arcee Flareup and Chromia await us outside.

"Tucking the boys in for the night?" Arcee asks.

"I hope you all have a pleasant recharge." I say and set skids down to his brother on the ground. I don't wish to stay anywhere near this hanger, I just want to go back to my own. I can't be anywhere near the females, I just can't handle it.

"Ironhide…" Flareup says halfheartedly behind me as I walk. "You're so serious…lighten up...you can talk to us you know!" I turn and shake my head at her and she looks between Arcee and Chromia. I look at Chromia softly and shake my head. As I'm walking away I can hear her, but I keep my optics to the ground.

"He won't change girls." Chromia says coaxing them all and the twins into that hanger. I am not meant to hear that, but I do. I just stare before my feet and keep walking to my own hanger.

My hanger is dark, save for the light coming from under the doors, I slide my hands across the metal and push the doors open. Turning I pull them closed behind me. I am not two feet into the hanger doors before I am barraged. "Ironhide…If skids does anything stupid I have a few things on the table for you…you can do a field patch on him if need be until I return right?" I grab a data pad off one of my weapons crates. "Don't let him be an idiot while I'm away."

"I'll be with lennox tonight." I say changing the subject. "I think Skids and I will be fine." I admit; it seems everyone knows I'm grounded. I open a panel on my arm and slide the data pad inside. I turn "good night." I say quietly and try to exit the hanger as fast as I had entered it. I find William waiting outside holding his duffle bag. He's waiting for me.

"Hows the wax?" He asks and leans forward giving my knee joint a rub.

"I would be interested in having you wax every so often." I admit "It is nice to be clean."

"Saturdays," he smiles "and we'll rainex your windshield next time."

"Rain-x?" I look down confused. "This is a verb?" Sometimes humans are confusing creatures.

"Trust me water will just slide right off you…it's like wax for your glass parts." He says with a laugh and I transform. I open the driver side door and wait. "You're upset aren't you?" I close the door. I don't want to talk to him about it.

"A bit…" I say quietly giving him a sense of what I feel.

"Prime is pretty worried about you." Lennox says "says you're keeping too much to yourself."

"There's nothing to be concerned about." I sigh outwardly, Lennox can hear it.

"Starscream near Ended you Ironhide and you walked away like nothing happened." Lennox said "You don't even flinch, you're a machine." He says and then thinks about what he's just said "When humans get this way, they start going into battle without talking things out, they turn into monsters." He says "I think Optimus wants to ensure that doesn't happen to you."

"It will not." I assure him, though I do understand him now, it happened in one of my ranks back in the war, one of our autobots went on a murderous decepticon rampage. "I was saving skids from getting torn to shreds by starscream."

"You and Chromia had words before Starscreams attack…it got to you." Lennox says.

"You're an awful therapist." I say "I'm fine William." I say through the radio "rejection brings out the worst in me." I hadn't talked with him about what had transpired between Chromia and I.

"She shot you down?"

"In so many words…" I silence myself and just continue to drive.

"So you try to take it out on an F22 with an attitude." Lennox puts his hands on my steering wheel. "Hide…you need to cool it." He said "Calm down, and let all this frustration go…" he says "Hey you never know the next two days with Skids may be just what you need." He admits.

"Babysitting was not my first idea of fun." I admit quietly and sigh again.

"They are adolescence Hide...They just need a good role model …"

"I highly doubt I qualify." I say quietly.

"That's not what Optimus said." Lennox puts a hand on my dashboard. I am quite shocked by his revelation.

"I will be working with skids while you are gone." I say softly. "Try to teach him better targeting. I believe it best to take the twins one at a time with weapons training." I say.

"Maybe do they have weapons?" Lennox asked leaning back in the driver's seat.

"Air cannons only which are effective under most battle conditions." I said plainly. "I was thinking of letting Skids try a plasma rifle…allow him to shoot carbonated beverage canisters."

"Pop cans huh?" Lennox shifted his weight a bit.

"Affirmative." I reply.

"Sounds like fun actually." Lennox laughed softly as I continued to drive. The night would be a long one for me, no recharge. I spent all night leaned up against a tree in the back of the Lennox home, reading a data pad on weapons technology that the humans were developing and seeing what, if anything, would be useful to us to know.


	2. Making War Games

Training Days

Chapter 2: Making War Games

The next morning would be filled with dread as I rolled into the gated base. Lennox hadn't said much to me this morning and I in turn, had said little to him. He was prepared for the trip, and was in complete focus, Primus forbid I be the one to break it.

Skids stood next to me and we watched as his brother was rolled up onto a trailer with Sideswipe and ratchet. He was sandwiched between them, my spot. Optimus was being rolled onto the airship first and then the trailer holding the others would be rolled in beside. I looked down at skids who was waving and I shook my head "They will only be gone for 48 hours." I remind him.

"I know but you know….you never know." I could not argue with him there. Even if his words were confusing. A bot really never did know. I watched as a smaller trailer holding the girls being hoisted up.

"She misses you…" Skids said abruptly.

"What?" I asked looking down at him scoffing softly.

"Chromes …she loves ya…but says you need to stop being so damned serious." He smiled at me then turned limping back inside the hanger.

"She spoke to you about it?" I say incredulously. I point at him "She did not." I say.

"Nah she spoke to the other girls…but I mean they wouldn't shut up…you can't recharge when they talk." he sits down at his little desk "They just don't shut up…I thought they had a hive mind…couldn't they just talk in their own heads?" He says and starts to fiddle with something at his little desk. "trying to recharge and all they do is talk" I smiled at him now, I understood that one. He was still young he would know one day.

"What's this young one?" I walk beside him to look down at what he's working on. I lean down looking at the myriad of cables and hooks about the table.

"When we were fighting devastator my grappling hook got stuck…and then I was holding my weight and Mudfalp's, so I found this cable." He hands me a line of it. I run it between my digits. "Thinner and stronger, I'm going to replace my other cables with it." He nods "and then this grappling hook is something I found in the scrap yard on the south side of the base…its titanium…shouldn't break …should hold both our weights." I am encouraged by his want to be a better bot. "pulled it off an old space shuttle."

"You're not all rocks in there are ya?" I ask and give his head joint a nudge. I even let a smile cross my faceplates.

"I'd hope not…Mudflap and I just want to have some fun." He admits swinging his good leg a bit from his seated position. I sit beside him and try to help him coil the wires together. "Do you have a brother Ironhide?"

"I'm my creator's only offspring." I admit quietly. Part of that admission brings sadness and part of it just is numbing.

"Oh…sorry." Skids looked up slowly meeting my optics.

"Be not sorry." I say and continue to help him to tie up the cable. "I would like to take a look at your weapons…see what we can do to give you a bit of an advantage on the field." Skids looked at me with questioning eyes. "I have wanted to experiment with human technology…Would you like to fire a plasma rifle later today?" I ask.

"I'm still hurt." He says looking down to his leg.

"I know youngling, you don't need to stand to use the rifle." I say and turn "I am also going to let you try a newer rifle I'm refitting for our new training games."

"What kind of games?"

"Paintball." I smirk. Skids turns his head as he looks it up on the net.

"That's awesome!" he looks up at me with wide eyes. A smile plastered across his faceplates and his gold tooth as big as I've ever seen it.

"Yes youngling we're going to set up the back training field." I tell him.

"We need barrels and pit traps…" he grabs a data pad. "Oh oh…" he's on a little data rampage. He grabs a data pad and start to record all his ideas.

"I'm glad you are excited." I admit; it's not as hard to like them they just need the right direction. "I'll let you help me design it, and when the others get back we'll see what they can do with it." I nod.

"You're really going to let me help?" skids asks in disbelief and looks at me one eye craning. I think he's starting to doubt my sincerity.

"Home field advantage." I nod "I am going to assemble some training rifles and fit them for the paint balls."

"Are they really paint?" Skids asks giving me a questioning look. He stands on his two feet but does not walk.

"Mostly color and soap." I nod and wave a dismissive hand at him "it washes off."

"Oh ok ..cause I don't want to lose my awesome paint job." He tilts at the hips and swivels looking at himself. I laugh slightly and shake my head.

"Ok everyone will need different colored paintballs. Make a list: red for Optimus, black for me, white for sideswipe, blue for jolt, the girls can have baby blue purple and neon pink." I looked down at skids "Orange and green for you and your brother." I smile "Ratchet can be neon yellow. Bumblebee can be gold."

"Why is everyone a different color?"

"So we know who hits who." I say "Hows the leg?" I look down "You won't be able to help me move much but you can audit me as I move things."

"I get to Supervise!" He got too excited and I turn pointing at him.

"Watch." I correct as my hands hold the wound cable.

"Oh." He smiles as offer him the cable I have wound for him. He opens a panel on his upper arm and I look inside. "That cable is torn." He says. I nod and reach in slowly pulling the length out and letting it topple down to the floor. "the other should just slide in and that piece should attach to the back with a snap." Skids tells me as I fit the rope to him. With a click the back panel locks into his upper arm. "That's good." He closes the panel once my hands are free. "I'll put the hook on later." He shifts his weight to his good leg joint. "Let's go look at the otter field."

I smile back and lean down and lift skids up and slide him around to my back. "Can you hang on back there?" I ask and 'piggy back' him. I had seen Lennox carry his young offspring like this, and it seemed the best choice it would leave my hands free.

"Can you handle my weight?" Skids asked leaning over my shoulder plates and looking at me from my left side.

"You don't weigh anything youngling." I say and grab a few things in my freed up hands and start for the hanger door. "what else should our little field have?"

"Pit and water traps."

"Ratchet won't like that." I laugh outwardly. "Whatelse?"

"We need something that will even trip up the big boss bot." He said pointing out onto the field.

"Something to trip up optimus…" I think on it. "I may have just the thing." I smirk softly and nod "Sand trap?" I look back at him "with water…" I nod "sink the big guy pretty quick."

"This is gonna be good." Skids laughs excitedly in my auditory sesor.

"Indeed." I agree and I can't help but smile. Makes me wish I had a sparkling of my own. For a moment I want to shoot myself.

We reach the field and I set him down slowly on an old rusty car. "I'm going to build up some mounds and things, cover on either end." I look down "Keep coming up with ideas."

"Ironhide what if …we make it more interesting?"

"How does one make it more interesting?" I turn and look over at him.

"Look up Capture the flag on the net." I look down to the ground as I search it, after scanning the Wikipedia I nod and look up.

"I'm familiar…" I nod "I agree…" I smile "Capture the flag it is…" I make my way down to the field to work on moving some scrap from the 400 yard square field. "you will need to make some flags."

"Alright!" he smiles "I'm gonna call back to base…how much sand do you think we'll need?"

"A few tons, and ask for a tanker of water." I say

"Alright you got it hide." I flinch and turn glaring at him. "Ironhide…sorry." He is instantly regretting the shortening of my name. "I'll call base." I start to look around and start to make decisions about each side of the field.

"Skids..make a list..split everyone on to two teams, your brother and you will be divided, and divide the girls, put Arcee and Flareup together, Chormia on the other team." I nod "Optimus will lead one team and I the other. Break everyone up like that ok?"

"Otherwise everyone else just split em up?"

"yes." I tell him. "I'll make changes after you attempt to split the teams."

"Okay." He says and sits content to the sidelines working on his tasks, without his brother around I must admit he is a diligent worker. He will make a find soldier one I will be happy to train and call one of my own. Even if he is a bit more enthusiastic than he should be. I smile looking to the trailer at the far end of the field.

"Skids, get a few soldiers down here I will need help hooking up to that trailer to move it."

"You can move that?"

"I can…I just need help getting it hooked up." I admit.

"I'll call them now." I smile and turn walking over to it and examining the large cement pipes on top.

"These will do nicely." I say softly looking at the chains and the cement pipes. "I hope they allow me to use them." I remind myself to ask when the humans arrive. Using the cement pipes will be beneficial and the trailer won't be as heavy with them off of it. Much to my relief.

"Put Lennox and epps on the teams as well…they will enjoy this." I say to skids waving a hand to him from across the field.

"Alright two humans…" he smirks and snickers sitting there on the rusty car. "this is gonna be so good I can't wait to hit them with paintballs." I can only shake my head at his enthusiasm. He's not so bad, and for a moment I regret thinking it.


	3. War Games

Training Days

Chapter 3: War Games.

The 48 hours would go by quickly, and soon everyone would be home again. "Skids?" I ask turning. Looking around.

"I'm right here." He walked up to me and lifted up a data pad.

"perfect." I smiled down at him and take the data pad from him. "You ready?" I ask. He and I are out in front of everyone the entire team.

"Yup." He nods and stands beside me turning to face everyone else. His hands on his hip joints, I think he picked that up from me, he's got his chest out and I feel a bit embarrassed at his stance.

"Welcome to training Camp." I say very loudly to get everyone's attention. I turn my head. "I have a weapon here, for each of you, they have your names on them so don't try to pass them off to someone else." I blink my optics twice and look between the robots before me. "This is a combat game, this means no killing one another, I want this to be fun, but you also need to learn things from this, about watching your team mates, your opponent, and your terrain." Optimus seems rather pleased at this point. "There are more traps in that pit back there than I'm gonna even tell you about." I turn "there are two flags, this is a combat version of capture the flag, work with your team to retrieve your flag from the opposing side, and return it to your own teams side… if this happens the game is over." I lift up my rifle and turn it on the rusted car near me shooting once. "You get hit..you are OUT of the game, and must retire off the field. You will know who you've been hit by ..by the color of the paint you wear leaving the field."

"Why did you split us up Ironhide?" Arcee asks a hand up in the air to grab my attention.

"You won't always be together….you won't always have the option of being a hive mind, I split skids and mudflap up for the same reason, you're too close…you need some well earned time apart." I nod and walk over to Optimus "I hope you're ready for this…I'm out for your aft today."

"I am prepared for whatever it is you have in store old friend." He smirks at me and I shake my head.

"Skids helped me build this track; he knows it better than anyone on Optimus' team, so I would listen to him if I were you." I look directly at Optimus and now he knows I have something planned for him. "If someone is INJURED anyone human or autobot…You need only yell STOP…Ratchet will toss a siren…if you hear the siren put your weapons on the ground for Ratchet to his job." I turn "is everyone clear?" I look around at the bobbing heads "Once the problems are addressed the game may resume."

Prowl smiled at me and nodded "I think this will be rather fun." He said and I handed him a large paint rifle. Chromia slid to my right side and I slid her a smaller rifle with her name on it…

"Gunmetal grey for prowl light blue for the femme." I smirk. I lift up the next rifle "bumblebee!" He steps out from behind Optimus and walks over retrieving it. I hand another to Optimus and smile as skids has started to hand out rifles to the other femmes and the rest of the autobots.

"Ironhide.." I turn to meet Optimus' gaze. "this is very interesting."

"You wanted me to have some fun didn't you?" I ask dryly "taking you down is what I call fun."

"That is not what I meant…but this is certainly different…especially for you." This causes me to give him the wave of my hand I just shrug at this; it's all I can do.

"The kid helped." I motion to skids.

"I am very aware of his assistance to you." Optimus said "What do you say we make him and his brother Rank 3" I give him a look, the 'you are kidding me right' look. I laugh outwardly.

"Let's see how these training games go before we start passing out promotions Optimus." I say "we're barely an army."

"You still won't be my Lieutenant." He says and I sigh at him "I won't ask you again but you are my first choice…you have the best experience, and you would lend yourself well to the roll."

"Days ago you thought I was going mad, and now you want to promote me?" I blink and ready my rifle. "I'm going to cover you in black paint prime." I say with a laugh "assemble your team."

I step away from the other team motioning my bots to my side. I look over Chromia, Ratchet, Jolt, Bumblebee and Mudflap. "Obviously the humans will not be joining us today." I smile "but I built this course, and we're going to win this race." I look at Chromia "you're our flag bearer." She nods "We're gonna give you enough cover to get to that flag without getting hit, if you get hit, mudflap you're the next smallest to go for the flag." He nods.

"Yeah yeah Can do." He jumps up and down looking overly excited.

"Ironhide can you get her close enough?" Ratchet asks.

"Pretty sure Bumblebee and I can get her up by the barrels, if Optimus comes up the front side of the field he's going to get a foot full of sand trap." I nod "It's covered pretty evenly but it'll sink his weight for sure." I nod "If prime goes that way...and I know he will, and doesn't get sand trapped we may have an issue… I was never good at this game with him, unless I had the advantage."

"What's your advantage now Ironhide?" Jolt blinked his optics at me his wheels rolling on his sides.

"This is my course." I say softly "And skids doesn't know about that one particular sand pit, so this is only going to work once." I say. "Are we ready?" they all nod at me. "you know the plan lets go." We turn to face the opposite side of the field. "LET THE GAMES BEGIN PRIME!" I laugh Out wardly.

"You enjoy this too much." Chromia shook her head Looking at me with disapproving optics.

"I'd enjoy you if you weren't so stubborn." I say in response and give her backplate a stroke. It was wrong of me but you know.

"Slagger." She calls me and moves to the right. She darts off ahead to take point. I love when she talks dirty to me like that. Following I make my way forward I see jolt pass forward and suddenly I hear a rifle go off. I look to my left "Mudflap!" Chromia rolls her optics and I laugh.

"it's a game." I tell her softly and pat her shoulder "Come on let's get that flag." I motion her forward; suddenly rifles are going off left and right.

"Pit!" Ratchet says from the far field, a large red spot on his armor. "I'm out." He turns heading off the field, Prime got him good. I smirk and look over to Jolt and mudflap who are backed up to barrels. Jolt is doing well he turns fires and knocks a few barrels over and caught Arceee off guard and managed to put a large dark blue spot on her head. I laughed as she started to exit the field. Bumblebee came up to the left side and let a few rounds out towards prime, they missed him but he was moving towards the sand trap.

"Very good Bumblebee! Come on." I motion chromia forward "mudflap!"

"yeah?" he turned his head.

"You're a casualty..run out there and get hit a few times." I smirk "We'll get that flag...you'll be a hero."

"Ok!" he stands and turns getting ready and I motion him to move, and out he goes and I hear the multiple digs on his armor as I push Chromia out the opposite side. "go love go…" I say motioning her forward.

As we move across the side field I move around a few of the cement pipes and find Skids down inside one. He's got energon spilling form his optics and his head down under his arm. He doesn't look good. "RATCHET STOP!" I raise a hand and all shooting stops as Ratchet's siren goes off. "Skids." I kneel down looking into the cement pipe.

"Oh …get him outta there hide." I turn and wave a hand at Chromia to silence her. Reaching in my hands under his arm plates I pull him slowly out onto the field. Optimus Reaches us first looking down.

"What's happened?" he asks and looks at skids with as much concern as I.

"Jolt knocked over those barrels and I got hit by the cement culver t behind." Skids says clutching his hip. "I couldn't move I slid inside here." He said terrified of the pain he was feeling.

"Why didn't you say anything?" I ask sternly "You needed only to yell STOP."

"This is fun to watch." He says energon spilling again from his optics. "It hurts." He admits.

Ratchet shakes his head and kneels down scanning his hands over Skid's leg "separated his hip joint again." He sighs and looks between me and skids"We gotta find some more parts for you kiddo you're too young to be falling apart like this." Ratchet stands "I need to get him back to the hanger."

"I'll carry him." I say and kneel down lifting him up in my arms. "How'd you do?" I ask him. He only points a finger at his brother who is covered in lime green paint. "Very good." I look over and smirk "Prime you're hit." I say as I walk past him. He looks down and over him and blinks.

"Where?" he asks meeting my optics. I lift my rifle up from under Skid's back plate and fire. Black splattering across prime's armor.

"There." I say and turn "Told you that you would be black." I follow ratchet off the field dropping my rifle to Chromia as I pass. Optimus shakes his head. I know I'll hear I'm a cheater from him later.

"There are still enough of us for another round who's in?" Optimus asks

"Oh meme me!" Mudflap jumps

"I'm game." Bumblebee steps up to the other team. "I'll lead Ironhide's team while he's gone." I look at Ratchet and sigh quietly.

"what do we need to keep this from happening again?" I ask seriously, Skids can't just keep falling apart like this."

"Stop using large cement piping." He says "I'm not sure… He needs a new hip servo." He says "something to keep the joint from separating." He looks over at us. "Skids…I can fix you with decepticon parts."

"Will I stop breaking?" he asks clinging to my armor. His optics are drying but he is still in a lot of pain.

"I'm certain of it, it may take a bit of getting use to...it might be a bit of a fit but we can rescan your transport mode after I've done the replacement and you should fit together a bit better." He says. I nod and look down.

"What do you think Ironhide?" Skids asks looking at his limp leg.

"I think you need to be fixed youngling, no matter where the parts come from." I say softly and stand as Ratchet opens the hanger door. "Can you give him something for the discomfort?" I ask Ratchet.

"Ironhide is right." He motions me forward "set him on the berth there…I'll give him something to numb the neuro-circuit clusters" He grabs a few tools. "Ironhide …get Scorponoc's box for me…that tail the humans took from him three years ago may have the necessary components." I nod and move to the far storage racks labeled with decepticon we've encountered. I look in and nod grabbing the crate from the shelf. "Starscream's arm might have some of those items too ya know." I offer.

"Yes well I don't want to give him parts to advanced for his age." Ratchet says looking down over the hip joint and placing a scanner over it numbing the area. "that should feel a bit better now."

"HEY!" Skids protests at the 'to advanced for his age' comment and then sighs as the circuits are numbed. "that's so much better" Rachet leans him back on the berth. "Ok ok..I'll shut up..." Ratchet smirks and lifts his hand motioning me outside.

"I can take it from here Ironhide… you can return to the playing field." I smile and walk up to skids putting a hand on his shoulder assembly. "he'll be fine." Ratchet nods to me.

"You're on my team next time youngling." I say quietly.

"Can't wait…" He says to me quietly and I look up as his optics go offline. My optics meet Ratchet's.

"He'll be fine." Ratchet says "go enjoy the game."

As I return to the field I see optimus holding the flag, granted he's covered in sand to his hip joint. I smirk watching the younger bots as they leave the field. Optimus turned and upon seeing me gave only one order. "AUTOBOTS!" I blink he's loud today. "FIRE!" before I can move I'm a rainbow of paintballs, the red spot between my eyes making me less than happy that I fired at prime moments before. I bite my processor and look down.

"I deserve that." I said dryly. I look at my feet lifting one from the ground and sigh as I walk forward. "Lennox is going to be angered." Optimus and I laugh quietly, we haven't laughed in a long time. "Alright …come on I have an energon store that needs drained who's with me?" I ask looking around holding my hands out to see if I can gather some new enthusiasm.

"I'm so in!" Mudflap ran forward to my side, bumblebee behind him with a nod.

"That's a fun game Ironhide." Bumblebee said "I really liked that…got some energy out."

"That's the whole point." I smile and look over at Chromia who has a large white blot on her helm. I make careful steps over to her. I stand before her quietly. Idly I lift a hand wiping away some paint. "Some energon?" I ask of her quietly.

"Thought you'd never ask." She smiled up to me and we turn following the rest of the crew back to the main hanger.

"You're answer is still no then?" I ask again quietly to just her.

"Sorry Ironhide, you have some stuff you need to let go of, until that happens, I can't." she admitted to me before running up to join her paint covered sisters. I fear to think she is just playing games with me, I don't want this to be it, I don't want to play games. This is a fight, I'm not sure what the pit she wants me to let go of, but I hope I can figure out whatever it is so I can be happy. I just hope it's her that will make me happy.


	4. Repairs and rehabilitation

Training Days

Chapter 4: Repairs and rehabilitation

Blue optics came online and the small bot sat up before me. "Don't move." I say and push gently against skids putting him back to the berth. "You're still on rest." I say and hand him a small cube. "Here is yours."

"Oh Energon?" he blinks "there's not a lot of this stuff Ironhide."

"It's my personal store …everyone got one…Optimus himself as well, so drink up." I nod "it'll make you feel better." I motion him to drink.

"Really?" he asks.

"Yes really." I shake my head at him and he drinks down the cube slowly. I can see in his optics that he's feeling a little more relaxed with it in his system. "When was the last time you had any energon Skids"

"Um…a long time…I don't recall exactly how long." He said looking up to me. His gold tooth twitched under his mouth joint.

"Do you remember Cybertron?" I ask "Or are you too young to recall it?" I am genuinely curious about this, I don't really know much of where Skids and mudflap came from let alone why they came here together.

"Nah ...not really…I saw some of the pictures bumblebee had, it just didn't seem right." He shrugged his shoulders at me. "Didn't look familiar."

"Where were you before you heard optimus' signal?" I ask my head tilting slightly towards him.

"We were on Vestar 3" he says quietly I remember the planet, a group of femmes had taken a large load of hatchlings there just after the war started, Skids and Mudflap may have been among those hatchlings. "There were a lot of us, most younger than mudflap and I." he explains. "these guys showed up and started branding us." He says touching his autobot logo. "Saying we would defend our people."

"You were branded Autobots?" I asked optics skeptical.

"Yeah…I don't remember much." He says "I do know I have always been with Mudflap." He says shrugging "no matter what, he's the first thing in my memory banks." I nod it's understandable with twins that that would be the case.

"You would have liked the Cybertron of old." I reminisce quietly and remember my old home. "You would have gone to one of the universities." I say "your brother too." I say.

"Did you go to one of these universities?" Skids asks of me. I turn slowly and looking at him I take in a deep breath through my vents. I force the air out and think a moment as to how I should tell him this, or even if I should tell him at all.

"Oh yes." I say and smirk "I was very fond of military history." I reply quietly. "I was set to teach it to Younglings such as yourself."

"You were gonna be a teacher?" Skids asked in disbelief once more and I could only nod at him. He laughed again "A teacher?"

"Well then the war started…and none of our plans ended up the way we dreamed them." Ratchet walked in on our conversation. "We all got our lives turned upside down."

"Well you were a medic and you stayed one." I reply.

"Once you picked up a few cannons it was over." Ratchet pointed to me. I held up my hands guilty as charged. "You were no longer a scholar you were a soldier."

"I fell in love." I reply and look down at the cannons attached to the nodes on my wrists. "I rather like being a soldier."

"You fell something." Ratchet said and came around to me "how's your shoulder joint holding up?" he asked. I turned so he could examine it. His hands ran over the seam and he nodded. "It looks to be holding."

"I won't need it replaced will I?" I look up at him I've known him to always be honest with me.

"I doubt it." He replies and puts his fingers over the seam of the joint. I groan slightly. "Hurts does it?" he asks. I nod quietly and look to skids; who sits silently watching our exchange. "How badly?"

"Bad enough." I grit my dentals and let out a groan as his fingers push against my back plate and hold the shoulder. He's rotating it back. "Ratch ...stop." I ask and lean back away from his grasp.

"I think we'll see how it does the next week or so, and then we'll see if we need to replace it." He looked into my optics. I nod and put my hand over my shoulder joint. "Primus Ironhide you're an old bot." Ratchet laughs at me.

"So are you." I remind him. "You're older than I if I'm not mistaken." And trust me I'm not.

"It's true." He nods looks over skids. "Are you feeling any pain?"

"Me? ...nah…" he says "still numb…Can't really feel anything on that side below the hip joint." He shifts his upper body slightly to sit up better. I turn back to him and put an arm out so he can use me to pull himself up to sit more upright.

"Can I see him…?" I shift my weight and turn my head, Mudflap hung back at the door. I stand and motion my arm for him to come in. Mudflap's quiet steps slowly make to the berth. "Whoa!" he looks over his brother's hip. "What's that?" he asked putting a hand on the blackened armor.

"Part decepticon." Skids says "Scorpinoc's tail joint and servo are in my hip now."

"Are we still gonna be able to?" He made his hands come together in a connecting fashion.

"Merge? ... I dunno." He looks to ratchet.

"You will be able to combine, just not anytime soon." Ratchet explains and looks around the hip joint some more. Very concerned with lasting effects the youngling may incur from the initial injury.

"Alright!" Skids gets a bit anxious and excited. I shake my head. "Ice-cream truck of destruction!" I shake my head and put a hand to his shoulder.

"Calm yourself Skids." I chide. "I'll be back in a while …no moving…do as Ratchet requests." I remind skids as I leave; pointing a firm finger to him as I tell him. "Do you need anything youngling?"

"No not really." He says. Mudflap takes up the seat I vacate and I turn to ratchet.

"Radio me if anything changes." I tell ratchet. My statement gets a smile from the old medic.

"Of course." He walks with me to the door of the hanger "you're quiet taken with Skids." We are well out of earshot of the twins. I look up at him, he's digging in my head now.

"Yes." I say quietly. "When he's not with his brother he's bearable."

"More than bearable...for you." Ratchet said "this is good for you, and him." I shake my head "I know you don't want to hear it." He's a mind reader sometimes this one. "But he really looks up to you."

"I know that." I say and wave a hand "I'll be back later…you can be all mushy around me then." I utter quietly. He laughs and turns back inside to sit with the twins. I step around the corner meeting the back of Major Lennox. I blink my optics and I clear my processor. He hears me. Turning away from Sergeant Epps he seems a bit thunderstruck.

"IRONHIDE!" I freeze as I step onto the tarmac beside him "I just washed you a few days ago!" I look down the rainbow of colors still gracing my black paint job.

"I appologise." I smirk "war games…"

"Of all the war games you had to play…paintball!?" he rolls his eyes "None of the others look like that!" he motioned to me. I shrug slowly. "You're practically covered."

"They all decided to fire at me at once…Prime's idea of a joke…and it's just my front…" I kneel down "I'll go to the truckwash with Optimus in the morning." I say quietly. When Lennox doesn't have time to wash me I go with Optimus down the road to the truck wash. It's the only place big enough he can get a wash and I just barely meet the size requirements to get a wash there as well; Half ton diesel.

"Oh no… I have some new recruits that need some good hard work…we'll line you all up tomorrow and wash and wax down the line…" Lennox smiles. "Good work for new recruits." I like the idea. "…besides we have a special interest group coming in and they can't know you're here, they'll just think we're all washing our personal vehicles and the base vehicles."

"Ah …we'll have to close skids off in that hanger." I point behind me "he won't be able to transform for a few days, he will need to remain in his bipedal form." I explain to Lennox…"I'm going to get some recharge I'm exhausted." I say softly raising up from my crouched position.

"You ok big guy?" the concern in his voice stops me. I turn my head back to him and nod.

"yes…yes I am." I turn and walk on. It is too much trouble to explain myself tonight. I just feel very heavy, and I'm not sure why, I need to get it out of my system. However I just feel I need to recharge, my shoulder joint aches and I could use rest.


	5. Too Close

Training days

Chapter 5: Too Close

I sit; wheels on the pavement. It's a cool morning but my black paint soaks the heat from the sun. I'm content here in the quiet of the backfield. My comm. Alerts and I grumble quietly to myself as I switch my radio on. "This is Ironhide."

"Ironhide would you come back to the main hanger?" Ratchet, it's Ratchet.

"Something wrong?" I ask quietly gruffly, he can hear the agitation in my voice.

"I need your assistance." He said. I mentally groan.

"With what?" I venture again trying to get him to be more forthcoming with information.

"Just get down here." He silences the comm.

"You didn't say please." I radio back but find my wheels rolling ahead as I make my way out of my sunshine and down to the shade of the hanger. I kill my fans for a bit in order to keep the warm around me for a little while.

As I approach the hanger I press on over the speed bump and sit in truck form before Ratchet. "Well get up." He's irritated. I will myself to stand transforming slowly shake my head joint as my chest plates lower around my collar strut. "Bout time…I need you to hold skids down."

"What for?" I ask walking up behind him towards the berth where skids lay; strapped down to the table. "youngling…?" I eye him uneasily.

"I am almost finished with his alignment." He says "but he keeps fidgeting." Ratchet protests. "He finally asked for you and I caved and radioed." Ratchet lifted a drill and a solid hip bearing. "I really need to do this before it gets too late."

"Hey." Skids' looks up at me with sorry optics, he seals his dentals shut and his gold tooth seems to be twitching. "It hurts." He admits to me quietly blue optics darting around guiltily.

"I know it does." I say and turn Skids up on his side; facing my own body. I hold his body still. My hand on his upper arm holds tightly. "Put your processor elsewhere….think of something else…human television…femme bots or something…" I suggest. "Think about….when you filled Leo's car with …packing peanuts using the sunroof." I say. Skids laughs and looks at me smiling. I smiled down at him though I know what's coming I had the same procedure on Cybertron; only ratchet did it under combat conditions and it took Optimus and Hound to hold me down.

"yeah…that was awe-SOME!" Ratchet pushes down on the bearing over his hip joint firmly and a spark and a click and it's done, the connecters start to fuse themselves and ratchet does the last bit of sealing off of the lines. "OH NO NO!" he's struggling now in a lot of pain and I steady my hands to keep him still.

"Hush youngling." I repeat quietly. I turn my head as Optimus enters the hanger behind me and stands looking down over my shoulder. His optics as always are brighter than mine and he is genuinely concerned for Skids, as I am.

"Be brave." He tells skids who can only look up at him energon spilling over his optics down to the table. Skids' only reply to our leader is a nod between trembles of pain. "How is he ratchet?"

"He'll live, this will fix the ongoing issue with his leg…he should be fine in a week and back to his mischievous self." Ratchet replied and pulled out a small arc welder and started to seal the joint.

"Good." Optimus gives me a look, and I'm not quite sure how to read it. I look down at skids and reach my hand to his faceplates and push the energon back away from his optics. Optimus looks down at skids "You're a fine soldier." He tells him, and he's right Skids is. Optimus puts a hand on his shoulder and watches ratchet.

Neither Optimus nor I move until he is done with the welder and I look down. Skids has has hands on my hip joint clutching tightly his helm against my leg. I sigh but he's being brave and I just allow him his security.

"There that should do it." He pulls out a canister and sprays over the leg and it turns frosty white. I feel Skids slacken in my arms; a groan escapes him as he starts to pull air into his vents relieved. The cold is keeping the pain receptors from sending the pain signals to his processor. He looks up at me.

"Recharge." I nod to him. He looks to Optimus who seems to agree with me.

"You'll feel better soon." Optimus pats his shoulder and walks over to talk to Ratchet, seeming to show him his knee joint. Most of Jetfire's parts have taken to prime, but now he's not only feeling his age, but jetfire's as well. Ratchet seemed to nod at Optimus and motioned him father back into the hanger for a part or two.

My Optics cast down. Skid's shuttered optics are dark, he's slipped into recharge faster than I had imagined. I roll him slowly to his back and look down at him. "You're gonna be ok kid." I say quietly. I turn and draw up a stool and sit by him, a silent guard over an injured soldier.

I shutter my optics and just sit there; I'm not in recharge but just resting as I had before out in the sun. I raise a hand and pinch the space between my optics. I must look like Optimus right now; he usually pulls this move when he's under stress. I am under stress. I am glad for a moment I don't have sparklings of my own.

I look to Skids my optics coming back to me, and wonder if I don't.

Optimus's foot falls are not lost to my audio receptors. I turn seeing him standing there arms crossed about his chest. "Is this some quest?" He asks; I can hear him stifle a laugh.

"What in the pit are you talking about?" I place a hand on Skid's berth and turn my torso to him.

"Trying to make up for something?" He ventures gesturing to the Green Autobot on the table.

"Of course not, No." I shake him off and turn back around.

"Then why do you dote over the youngling?" Optimus asks "Not both, just this one?" he asks "Do you feel you are making a difference with just him?"

"You want me to stop?" I stand "Cause I can leave him alone if you want me to." This was very unlike me, this bitter tone, and it was extremely un-'autobot' of me.

"No that is not what I mean old friend." Optimus came around to the front of me, and I can see ratchet behind him just listening. "I just want to know that you aren't doing this because of what Starscream did to him." I shutter my optics and shake my head. I look at Optimus my voice now calm.

"To be honest I haven't thought about the seeker." I say plainly. I let hot air hiss from my vents and I turn to skids. "His brother is so much more independent than he is." I say. "I don't understand Mudflap Like I do skids." It sounds ridiculous coming from my vocal processor. I scoff "What is really the problem here Optimus I'm tired of dancing around these questions." I finally get my strength back and I'm talking to my friend, not my Prime.

"I just find the change in you overwhelming." He says and sits beside skids, Ratchet has vanished sometime in my little speech and I can't see him now. I look at my leader.

"Elaborate." I request of him.

"Chromia doesn't know what to do with you, you spend so much of your time with skids." He says "Mudflap feels you are pulling skids away from him."

"That's preposterous and you know it." I point at prime, now I'm getting angry and hot. My fans kick on to try to cool my systems as they fire up. "I would never pull him from his brother."

Optimus holds up a hand to silence my rant. "Calm down." He says motioning me to sit. I walk forward and sit and sigh quietly. "You mistake my concern for blame." He says.

I look up "Oh really?" I ask looking him over once. I shake my head and shutter my optics and pinch the bridge between them. "Permission to leave base sir…" I ask standing.

He looks over me "Where will you go?" he asks.

"I'm not sure." I say and turn. He stands and walks over to me.

"Walk with me." He says, and it's an order. He slaps a hand on my upper back strut, between my shoulder assemblies. I am almost tipped forward but I keep my balance and follow prime away. We end up on the far side of the training field. We're out of audio shot of anyone on base and I stand there. "You're a difficult mech." He tells me quietly turning to me. "You're stubborn." He says "and insubordinate." He continues. "You're practically obsessed with your cannons." He points at me. "Then there's Starscream." I sit back against the rusted car on the field. "You saved skids, and now you are overprotective of him." He motions to the hanger "chromia rejects you and you've latched yourself onto whatever would let you protect it." I just sit listening intently. "You're better than this Ironhide."

I don't know what to say to all this. I just motion a hand at him. I can't find any words at the moment. I put my hands down on my knees and just look at the ground. Anything to avoid my optics meeting that of my leader. I look down at my feet and the little red crabs skitter across the ground around me.

A hand on my helm moving my head back prime looks down into my optics. "you really need to settle that sometimes things can't be the way we want them." I am very close to his face now. I look at him and I ask something that's been on my mind a few hundred years.

"Are you sure there's something you don't want to tell me still?" I ask optics burning toward his own; so this is what we've been dancing around. Have for Cycles upon Cycles. He nods, that's it, just a nod. "That's how it has to be huh?" I sigh he starts to move away. "Prime." I grab his wrist joint in my hand. "Don't." he looks down.

"I've had enough of this." He says and draws his hand away.

I shrug "you get close and you push me away…so does Chromia and you wonder why I'm out of my fragging processor." I say blatantly pointing at him.

"It's not what I want." Prime said turning away. I stand on my feet and turn my stabilizers making a firm sound on the ground.

"Then what do you want!?" I demand "SAY IT!" I point an angered finger to the ground.

Optimus turns to me and I can see the pain in his optics, we've been friends far too long for something like this. I just grunt and sit back looking away. "As much as I would like to…" he breaks the silence "It would not be right."

"Prowl'll give us a court marshal…is that what you're worried about?" I ask.

"You still love her." He points out.

"She sure as pit don't love me." I counter "she hasn't for a long time…." I groan confused.

"We'll see how things go…" he walks up to me looking past me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "for now…be careful." He looks at me "Don't hurt Skids for your pride." He says and stars to take a step. I grab his wrist again stopping him.

"Don't hurt me for yours…" I say softly, quietly and with as much sincerity as I can muster. He stops and shakes his head. Optimus looks up and shakes his head again. I almost regret saying it. Then I look up to his optics.

"Never." His curt response is all I get. I sigh and watch him trot off, now we're both in a bad mood, and I can't stand it. I transform and roll over to my sunny patch and just sit alone, quiet in the sun; where I started this whole mess of a day.


	6. wanna frag?

Training Days

Chapter 6: Wanna Frag?

I hated this feeling that I was hurting others. It's not my way. I stood over the berth and looked down at the data pad. "those look alright?" his voice was nothing but serious. I thumbed through the calculations set before me. Both my mouth and optics thin lines

"The calculations are fine." I nod slowly after looking over Ratchet's math I set the datapad down in front of him.

"I'm not good at physics just medicine." He said as I turned the small weapon over.

"Yes it should work." I say slowly of his calculations. He and wheeljack were busy building something and needed help with calculations that Wheeljack could easily do himself, if it wasn't for the fact he was in the medical hanger with half his arm blown off again.

"The humans did a number on their little EMP rifle didn't they?" Ratchet looked down over my current project. Hands on his hips as he audits my repairs from in front of my workstation.

"Yes they have." I say and lift up a few tools. "Tried to hit Starscream…this thing has a warm up time, between blasts…he was coming down hard on them, the humans can be impatient." I sigh and reach up to my helm flipping down dark magnifying lenses over my optics.

"Fired before it was ready?" Ratchet looked down with a smirk shaking his head; he knew the answer to his own question. "shame…"

"Burnt out the power supply." I wonder if I can fix it at all as I remove the power supply with my hands. The scorched piece of metal is warm still and has fused together with other small bits from within the weapon.

"You and Prime had that talk and now you haven't spoken…Ironhide it's been almost a week, you're avoiding everyone…especially prime." Ratchet was concerned I could tell and I just put everything down and laced my fingers together and looked up at him on the other side of my workstation. I reach up flipping up the shields off my eyes.

"It's extremely complicated." I voice quietly trying to sound like I have some kind of handle on the situation.

"Try me." Ratchet reached for a large crate pulling it up and sat down and looked at me firmly. Sitting in the same position as me hands on the table folded before him.

"Chromia doesn't want anything to do with me…." I shake my head "I keep trying for some sort of normalcy but it's never going to be normal. I spend time with Skids because I enjoy it…honestly I do…he's energetic and enthusiastic and he does have good qualities which are shadowed by idiocy when he's with his sibling." I sigh and shake my head "and Optimus…"

"What about him?" Ratchet asked very concerned now. I look up and the plates of his brow furrow together closely. His expression is that of care and not of a gossip hound seeking fresh material to spread and as the CMO he's the only Processor doc we got.

"The war," I shake my head "we've been avoiding one another for years, and trying to function in the same space is hard." I look back down to my lap to my work.

"You care for him." Ratchet leaned forward and put a hand on my forearm "And it's more than just casual care." Something I need to hear I'm sure.

"Yeah." I'm not being defensive or tough. I'm just getting it out I need to or it's going to wreck my processor worse. "I do, and he for me but we're both in denial well whenever we get close to some sort of break through….we have a larger divide between us after."

"So do you love Chromia?" He turns the conversation back a notch.

"Honestly?" he nods at my question and I lean back with a sigh. This removes me from his proximity and I swivel my chair this way and that a moment thinking before I speak again. "I don't…" I run my glossa over my dentals. "I just appreciate her as a soldier she's one of my best, and I won't say I have never loved her because I did….at this juncture in my life I don't."

"I think you know what you need to do." Ratchet looked at me as he tapped his finger on my desk.

"It's not that easy." I say looking up at his face. My arms folding around my chassis tightly.

"Of course it is….just walk up to him and tell him what you just told me." He stands pushing the crate away. He looked down at me with serious intent and he reaches for the datapad of calculations "Thank you for checking this over."

"Your bedside manner needs work." I wave a hand at his thanks.

"I'm not at a bedside." He reminded me and turned starting to make his way away "think about it Ironhide." He kept walking "Just think about it…you have every right to be happy as the next bot." I watched him at the door a moment and saw him turn and hold up a hand trying to catch someone "PRIME!" I hear him call out and I sigh pulling my chair forward to my workstation again.

Pulling down my shaded optic lens covers and grabbing a welding torch; I began to weld the damage that the humans had done to their EMP cannon. Honestly its shot but I'm making an effort to make it look like I'm working.

Hours pass and a shadow looms over my workstation. "Hide." I look up slowly setting aside my tools and move a hand to the crate. He sits across from me and like with Ratchet I lace my fingers together and wait for the oncoming discussion. "I spoke to Ratchet."

"I'm sure you did." My sarcasm is lacking and I shrug "So…" I look up to see the hanger sealed and I shake my head.

"He said we talk it out , fight it out, or…."

"Frag it out…" I shake my head knowing it's not too far off the mark from what Ratchet has told him. Optimus nods slowly optics to the ground. "Well we don't have to talk if you don't want to." I stand and turn to the small supply cabinet I have and pull out another weapon to work on. "I can work…you can watch or whatever." I have settled myself with the fact that He won't be talking to me.

"Hide…" his tone makes me rethink my decision. I sit back at my workstation and look up at him. His optics raise to meet mine and I motion for him to talk if he would like. "I don't know what to do…I'm torn."

"Been torn for years Prime." I nod as my observation had been made clear to him, I tried to make it sound like I was talking about him but part of me knows this statement is more about myself.

"Optimus." He corrects. I nod slowly and look up at him this isn't a discussion between officers. He turns to me slowly his mask sliding back away from his scared face. I nod slowly and set my tools down lowering my arms to the table. "Ironhide …what are we going to do I'd rather not fight this out."

"So it's talk or frag huh?" I lace my servo digits together and sit thoughtfully a smirk on my face, as is my way.

"Ironhide…" he reprimands me quietly his face purely stricken by the question.

"What?" I shrug my shoulders and shake my head "those were the options." I sigh glancing at my servos and feeling not to comfortable with the enclosing silence. His servo shifts and it comes to rest atop my own. I don't dare move a piston let alone speak.

"Ironhide." I sigh quietly as his request. "Ironhide…" he says it with a bit more force this time his head dipping down to try to catch my optics. I finally can't take it anymore and I look up at him.

"Optimus." It seems such an unworthy statement into his intention but I can't do much more, I'm too uncomfortable, embarrassed, or whatever the humans call it to actually get to talking about all this.

"Do you remember Radilan 5…" He asks quietly.

"Uh…yeah…we won a small battle there and our fleet had a party." I recalled most of it though hazily. I was a drunken mess after that assult. "We still had the Ark Back then." As if to coil him away from where I know he is going with this.

He nodded slowly and twisted his servo into my laced together digits holding them firmly in place. "Do you remember where you woke the next morning?" A smirk graces my face and I nod "You don't remember it do you?"

"not really." I admit quietly and honestly. I drank too much high grade that night, and had woken from recharge the next morning on Opitmus' office floor with him pressed over me. I look up "We ..uh…ya know…at least I think…"

"Yeah…" Optimus nodded a positive answer to my query. "I thought you remembered."

"No….I was drinking a ton o' high grade…" I admit quietly "could use some right about now." I look up to meet his smirk and he nods apparently he could use some too. "You were pretty slagged yourself how do you remember?"

"The matrix…" his free hand lifts across his chassis and he rubs at the seam between his windshield. "It records everything …everyone I have ever met…It's rare I forget anything…things slip my processor of course but I never forget." His head turns back to meet my bright optics and I nod slowly. "If you would like a data track of it I can make one for you…so you can have some peace about it."

"Who said I was slagging upset about not known' ?" I blurted out. "Keep it…I'm sure there'll…" I silence myself and I think I already accepted what I was proposing. I shook my head "ah pit."

"There'll be what Ironhide?" His gaze is fixed now unmoving except for a few random blinks from his optic shields. He's waiting for the worst I know it. I can see it in his optics.

"I dunno." It's all I can muster without sounding stupid. I rub my thumbs over his fingers slowly. I look up meeting his fixed gaze and smirk "Slag." I stand up and put my hands on my hips and stare him down "Wanna frag?"


	7. I ain't leaving

Training Days

Chapter 7: I ain't leaving

* * *

His manifold couldn't keep up with his breath. His head dipped low and a hand clutched his chest. "Primus." He groaned pushing to get up off the rocky surface. He pushed away the alerts that were running through his processor. "I know slaggit" he swore to his own systems shoving away their blaring warnings.

"Ratchet!" Skids slid down next to Ironhide. Both mechs ducked as a munitions round from Starscream barreled past. Ironhide had rolled over ontop the smaller green mech to shield him from the blast.

"Go to optimus…we are losing this battle defend your prime." Ironhide ordered as Ratchet appeared. "I'm alright." Skids could only nod and pat Ironhide's shoulder and turned making a run for Optimus. Ironhide turned back to the green medic with a grunt.

"Like slag you are." Ratchet pulled Ironhide arm over his own shoulder helping him off the ground. Ratchet's hand coupled with Ironhides and small medical scanners hooked into Ironhide's main systems. "I can shut off the alarms your system is popping up but then I have to get to the others…you're not as bad off as you look."

"Who else?" Ironhide asked pitching his head around the XO was trying to get his bearings.

"Arcee has considerable damage." He nodded slowly helping the black mech off the battle field. "Jolt has her away from the fighting he's on his way back to help."

"The other girls?" Ironhide's voice was calm as the system alarms shut down and faded from his heads up display.

"Not a scratch on them." He lay the weaponries officer down on the gravel and plugged a scanner between the plates and jacked into Ironhide's main system. Ironhide could see the images flash in his heads up display he saw exactly what systems were damaged and felt a few reroute. "There we go…you should be mobile at least and I already stopped the system wide alarms….I have your primary cannon online….rerouting main neural lines….complete…." Ratchet pat his shoulder "You're good to go."

"Thanks Ratch." Ironhide shifted up as the medic withdrew his hand. Ratchet gave him a visual once over. "I'll look at your torso plate as soon as I can." Ironhide nodded and looked up in a panic grabbing ratchet's arm with his servo. He looked around almost pain stricken.

"Prime…"

"What about him?" Ratchet put his hand against Ironhide's grill to keep him down.

"Prime…he's hurt." Ironhide stood up against the protests of his body and the yelling CMO. The black mech stepped forward slowly looking around "OPTIMUS!" he called out racing back onto the battle field. He darted his optics darted he could see nothing. Closing his optics he felt out the larger mech. Optimus lay on his side facing away, while Skids and his brother, Mudflapp, tried to battle Starscream on their own. Ironhide fumed opening his eyes he turned to Ratchet. "We have to get to him…move now!"

"And how do you know where he ….slaggit you two…" Ratchet's question cut off abruptly. He wouldn't need to ask again.

It was a 100 yard dash to their leader who lay prone on his front, face down in the sand.. His optics were online, but for how long there would be no telling. Ironhide slid to his knees beside optimus his hand's moving to the larger mech's arms to try to hold back the spray from the leaking lines. "Ratchet seal off these lines…he's gonna bleed ta death!"

"I know I'm working on it." Ratchet moved down over prime to start working. "We need to roll him over on his backstrut."

"Sideswipe you and jolt get over here now and help the twins with Starscream!" Ironhide bellowed over his communications relay. "Alright ratch" Ratchet grabbed prime across his body and Ironhide pushed from his side rolling the larger mech onto his back so that Ratchet could work.

"Yes sir." Sideswipe responded to Ironhide's commands and soon the silver and blue mechs were making their way towards the fray. Sideswipe firing on Starscream, and jolt laughing like a maniac as he let his electro whips out and they danced on the ground.

Starscream's troops were retreating and he was finding himself becoming outnumbered. At the last moment he reached into his subspace and pulled out two plasma bombs. The F22 transformed taking off from a hover. As the Second in command of the decepticons made to make his escape, he let loose of the bombs; launching them down in his exhaust wake.

"Slag" Ironhide grabbed Ratchet and pulled him down over prime to cover their faces and keep Prime covered. The twins were thrown Mudflap into Sideswipe. The two fell back into a small heap as jolt ran to their aid. Skids was tossed to the other side of the battlefield. His helm dented in he remained online only a few moments to see Bumblebee rushing toward him. Then skid's world went black.

* * *

The medical bay was quiet. All of Diego Garcia was quiet. Everyone waited. However, no one waited like Mudflapp and Ironhide. No one. The two had been waiting together and no one disturbed them, no a soul or spark dared.

"Doc says he doesn't know." Mudfalp sniffled through his intakes. His nervous servo ran across his neck.

"He's gonna pull through." Ironhide sat back on the little make shift couch across from the two berths. One holding Optimus, the other holding skids. Mudflap leaned against Ironhide quietly. "They're both going to be just fine." Ironhide put his arm around the smaller mech and motioned him. "Lemme see your phase cannon." Mudflapp moved slowly and lifted his arm transforming it into the small cannon. Gathering his tools from a compartment in his arm, Ironhide smiled at him "I owe you an apology." It was soft and quiet and something Ironhide never did.

The smaller mech shook his head back and forth. "No ya don't…" Mudflapp turned his arm over as Ironhide started to poke at the arm mounted cannon's internal systems.

Ironhide mused a moment casting his scanner over the port side of the cannon. "I do." He said quietly his optics looking toward Mudflapp's own. "I stole your brother away from you and I'm sorry for that." He said quietly. "I care for you both, not one more than the other." Ironhide said "I care for all of us here."

"Sometimes with your temper…" Ironhide gave him a glare. Mudflapp sunk down "It's hard ta tell." He admitted, and he was right Ironhide knew that.

"Again…" Ironhide relented "I'm sorry."

"So what's with you and Prime?" The young bot blinked slowly "We all see it….we just want you to tell us what it is."

"Prime…" Ironhide shook his head "Optimus.." he corrected "And I …" the words were hard to find. He felt like he needed to say it, but he felt he could not say it.

"Ya love him." Mudflapp broached quietly almost a question but more a statement.

At a loss for words Ironhide put a hand on Mudflapp's helm. "You're still young…you don't understand.."

Mudflapp pulled his arm away. "Doesn't mean I don't know what love is or isn't…." His optics looked stricken.

Ironhide watched the little orange mech quietly. Despite his age there was thought behind what he said, an innocent wisdom. He nodded slowly "of course not." He nodded slowly "Optimus and I have always been close."

"Brothers in arms?" Mudflap asked and lowered his arm back into Ironhide's Servos.

"Yes…and more…" Ironhide was trying to be honest he just didn't know what else to say.

"You two uh…frag?"

Ironhide was taken aback by the statement from the youngling. He had to commend his bravery on such a topic. "a few times." Ironhide said softly but honestly with a curt nod, but he didn't go into detail.

"You're not so bad…I can see why my brother likes ya so much."

Ironhide smiled and continued to work on the smaller mech's cannon. "I can see why he likes you as well." Soon, a comfortable silence fell over the two and they continued to wait. Just sitting beside one another as Ironhide worked on Mudflapp's cannon calibrations.

* * *

Optimus felt the world spin beneath him as he came online. His optics opened slowly, the lids moving slowly as the optics behind looked back and forth. "Ratchet?" he Groaned and started to read all the alerts popping up on his heads up display his hand moved slowly to dismiss a few but he just lay there mostly in a daze.

Optimus heard the shifting and then the footfalls of another in the room."Not here right now." Ironhide's familiar voice broke the silence. Optimus raised his hand, but another hand came to rest on it pushing it back down against his chassis. "Oh no you don't back to recharge."

"Hide…" Optimus let the sound of the other mech's name roll off his vocalizer. Ironhide felt his concern and worry flood over him.

Ironhide looked down and met his leader's gaze :: I'm fine:: the internal communication was short. They had never used it, a bonded pair scared of their own bond, keeping both sides as sealed as possible from one another. "Ya need the rest prime." He continued out loud.

"As do you soldier." The two looked at each other a moment before Optimus looked away.

Ironhide made to turn "I ain't leaving ya." Pulling up a stool he claimed a spot next to the berth. "Deal with it."Optimus' gaze turned to his other side, he looked at skids then down to the recharging mudflapp. "They are fine Prime…Recharge…before I force ratch ta make ya."

Optimus would have liked to argue with the black mech but his systems were already overriding him, he was slipping into reacharge and could not stop it.

* * *

More later when I am not so sleepy

Felina


	8. Awesome

Training Days

Chapter 8: Awesome

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Ok Ironhides POV for the first part ..a 3rd person perspective in the middle now we're onto Optimus' POV! XD love it ..love it love it…always remember to read and review.

* * *

I awaken to find myself alone in the medical bay, alone save for a small green mechling at my side. He's not a mechling really but comparatively my age makes him oh so young. My servo rises to my helm and I give myself a moment to calculate all the information coming up through my HUD. I moved my hand along the seam in my chassis. You could never tell I had taken a hit so close to my chamber, a testament to Ratchet and what a good medic he is.

My vents pull in clean air to flood my manifold, I begin to circulate the clean air through my stiff systems and push up off the berth swinging my legs over the edge. Sitting up I glance up at Skids, who lay motionless, his chassis connected to a monitor. I can tell his hip has been replaced again and his helm is repaired but not repainted where he must have, taken a hit.

My head shakes and I sigh sliding down off the berth to find my servos firmly down on the cement. I step to his side a hand running over his upper arm. "Thank you." I say quietly "Your sacrifice shall not go unrewarded." I nod evenly and look at the monitor. The lines are even and steady. His body shifts as his vents continue to flood air to his systems, though a regulator is in place to make sure he continues to do so.

I can feel him behind me now. "Going to tell me to get back to berth?"

"Nah I'll leave that to ratchet from now on." He says softly. "We uh…need to talk about this Prime…Ratch…he knows…"

"What's to talk about Ironhide?" I sigh quietly my hand not leaving the mech's recharging form.

"Us….you …I…" he stammers and then steps to my side looking at me. I can see him in the peripheral view of my optics, but do not turn to look back at him. "We wanted this." His servo slides against my arm and he pulls me to turn to him. "I thought this is what you wanted?"

I don't know how to answer him let alone look at him. "Is it what you wanted Ironhide?" It seems the only logical response to such a question.

"Yes." His answer is firm yet calm. His servo moves from my arm to my shoulder and I look down at him. "Don't be a slagger Optimus." I can feel it now he's opened his side of the bond fully, the bond we had never fully intended to go all the way through with, but we had. This new bond was eating at my spark, and the matrix was even stronger with its own pull to Ironhide. I let my side of the bond open, he can feel my apprehension, and fear. I, in turn, can feel his apprehension. However, there's something else I'm feeling, gratitude? He's grateful I'm online. I reach up and rub my thumb over the seals in my chassis. ::feels nice huh?::

::Certainly different:: I have not communicated like this before in my online existence, it's not unlike an internal communication, but not only can I hear Ironhide in my audios I hear him in my spark, and that's an entirely different feeling.

His other hand comes to rest on my chassis and I sit back against the berth bringing us to a more even height. "Hide." I begin but I'm silenced by the aggravation in the bond. He wanted quiet and I was ruining it for him. ::I'm sorry:: My servos clasp around his forearms and we stand there, arm in arm holding onto something. Holding on long enough to figure out what we've gotten ourselves into. I worry, no I fear, it may be too much.

"Don't either of you move." Ratchet walks in from the far side of the hanger letting the door slam behind him. "I want a scan of your sparks." I want to protest but I feel I should not. The medic's fast pace and curiosity are peeked and stopping him myself would be disastrous.

"Come on Ratch we're fine." Ironhide protested for me. "You don't need to scan us...you want to and that's entirely different….we are not lab rats." Ironhide and I separate and stand back from one another shifting our weight.

Grabbing a scanner off of his medical bench he turned back moving toward us. "I'm going to scan you by Primus I am." He strode up between us. His scanner runs over the both of us and we stand there just looking at the green medic slowly. "How much high grade?" Ratchet shakes his head "You both probably don't remember even doing this." He presses a few buttons and nods a few times.

"Oh we remember…and there was no high grade involved." Ironhide pointed his finger voice raising. I can feel his anger he's hurt by the medic's accusation.

"We made the decision sober." I raise up my hand and push Ironhide's arm down. ::don't start.:: I warn him, and it's the only warning I give.

"Not happy with your outcome huh?" Ratchet looked at us both in turn and my optics shot to the floor only a moment as I look up.

Ironhide waves his hand at the CMO and looks at me slowly "We're getting use to it."

::Are you happy with our outcome?:: I broach behind our bond slowly trying to hide the dread of hearing his answer from him.

Ironhide looks up at me now meeting my eyes. "I am happy with our outcome." He nods answering my internal query allowed to the medic's surprise. He is talking only to me; he doesn't seem to note Ratchet anymore.

A hand rests on my shoulder armor. "You need to tell Prowl Prime." Ratchet's voice breaks my focus. He removes his hand as quickly as it was laid and turns slowly still going over the scans of our sparks. The two sparks that now throb in tandem. That now beat for one another.

"Yes of course…the senior officers will be made aware. I assure you that will be at the soonest possible moment." I look up to Ironhide and nod, he's flooding worry my way, fear that I'm not ok. I hold up a hand. ::I'm fine I assure you::

::I love you:: He responds.

My optics blink and I look up at him ::I love you too.:: I nod evenly, and It's the truth, it's the honest to Primus truth, a truth, that he nor I can hide anymore. I'm just going to have to let go of my reservations about all this and let this just happen. I sigh outwardly.

"Well if you two mechs would like some time alone…." He looked between us.

"Apologies Ratchet this is all …new." I admit quietly.

"Yes I'm aware." He reaches into a compartment on his arm and pulls out two datapads flitting through them slowly and then turning them to each of us. "Read these …should help when things come up…and things will come up." Ratchet waves a hand as though he's through with us. Ironhide looks at me then down to the data pad.

Ironhide mutters as his finger trails through the information. "Great." He watches as Ratchet heads to his desk but seems to turn his head as the door opens. Jolt appears and motions Ratchet to come with him and the CMO is gone shortly thereafter to chase his wayward prodigy. I smirk thinking theres more going on between Ratchet and Jolt than I'm seeing but I'll deal with that later.

I return my attention to the datapad in my servo. "I'll give you the summery later." I assure knowing Ironhide will not actually read the articles. I sigh looking over topics briefly. "Bonding, flutters, spark merging, spark division, Carrying..." I sigh slowly "Doesn't miss a beat does he?"

Ironhide grunts slowly optics fixed on the datapad. "Never does that's why you keep him around..." the pad lowers "Remember?"

I laugh at Ironhide and nod as the dark mech moves to sit beside me. My free arm wraps around him as I thumb down the datapad "Interface Sync Cycle?" I blink and open the file. "Oh that doesn't sound good."

Ironhide smirks leaning in over my lap to look at the information and my hand absently slides down to his lower back strut. "What the slag are you talking about Optimus that …sounds like fun…"

I groan and shake my head reading over the information. The datapad says; that most bonded couples go through phases of constant interface to make sure their systems are in sync and to strengthen the bond. It happens once every stellar cycle or so, and from the looks of it can last up to seven earth days if my calculations are accurate, and they are. I sigh as I read it's common in the first few months of the bond as well.

Ironhide's satisfaction isn't lost to me I feel it wash over me. ::We're gonna be busy…:: his hand rests upon my thigh plating.

I can only shake my head ::I suppose so.:: I roll my optics slowly and pull him closer, it's all I can do, we're bonded. I can't push him away, so the only option left is to draw him near. ::You'll move into my quarters?::

He shrugs slowly. ::Only if ya want me to, I don't want to impose.::

"We're bonded now …it's my quarters or yours…and mine are larger." I voice and smile down at him.

"Alright …" he caves and I can feel a ripple of pleasure in his spark. A feeling that I reciprocate gladly.

"Bonded?" A voice, a soft voice "That's awesome." Ironhide and I turn toward each other looking back at skids who's come online, his optics low and dim, his voice soft but optimistic.

Ironhide chuckles low and his hand reaches forward grasping my own. "Yea…" he looks up into my optics "Awesome."

* * *

~ Please read and review it helps me write more faster if you do!


	9. Coupling

Training Days

Chapter 9: Coupling

Big thanks to Optimus BOB who gave the first part of this chapter a once over before I posted it. And who also gave me the kick in the tail pipe I needed to finish the rest of this chapter…I don't write interface scenes very often so I want to know what you all think of the last part of it…is it too much, and am I being too hard on Ironhide?

This Chapter is dedicated to Optimusbob, Phoenix13, and Borath (who showed me that Ironhide and Optimus were made for one another)

This is a BIG update! SO READ AND REVIEW!

* * *

I told my bonded he could move into my hanger. I didn't leave him much of a choice. Ironhide would be moving into my quarters within the next 48 hours to leave Ratchet to his own hanger. Jolt would most likely move into the hanger once Ironhide was out but that didn't concern me. Not in the slightest. I was happy for the both of them even if they seemed the odd couple.

I stand arms folded across my chest watching him. Ironhide is sitting slumped over his workstation. His hands running over a weapon I don't recall him ever owning. Then again he has more than I can count. My optics watch him closely. Small bags scattered around him holding a myriad of different parts and pieces. I enjoy the satisfaction on his face as he works, changing out power cells, loading, and checking scopes.

I watch as he lifts the rifle up his optic looking through the scope to the far wall. "Still off…" I hear him murmer quietly and set the weapon down. I watch him stand and circle his amassed collection of weapons parts. We've dubbed this project; Arms Reclimation. Ironhide has been working on our weapons but had also made modifications to them using parts from human arms.

His afternoon of tear down seemed to be going well, however he was making quite a mess of the hanger, one that was not his to cause such a mess. I opened my side of the bond and he abruptly turns to face me "Yes?" his voice is calm and even as his optics brighten at the sight of me.

"Just seeing how you were doing Ironhide." I say softly.

"I'm well..." He nods slowly shifting his weight to bear it better on his left stabilizer. I note he's focused on me forgotten his current task. I decide it best to pull him from his thoughts.

"And that?" I ask of the rifle moving forward I note now there's duct tape around the lower part of it holding together a fresh weld.

"My new Paintball assault rifle." His tone makes me smirk . "Going for round two …no skids but you and I are good enough to join in." He smiles "I have four of these…" his optics flash at me slowly. "How are you feeling?" his tone changes to concern I feel his worry but disregard it all the same.

"I'm fine." It's not quite a lie but it's not the entire truth.

"Uh huh." He can read me like a book as he steps closer. With each step of his stabilizers to myself I feel a jerk in my chest a pull from the matrix toward him. He lifts his servo rubbing at his torso plate. His other servo casts aside the rifle on his desk with a clank with no care for it's condition.

"You can feel it to?" I ask quietly intakes hitching slowly As I back up against the hanger wall quietly.

"Yeah…been like this for days." He nods slowly walking toward me to back me against the metal wall firmly with nowhere to run. "Trying to keep busy …I know you are busy too... I'm trying to ignore it."

"Perhaps…" I broach softly "It's best not to ignore it…"

"You could be right." His servo runs over the tires on my hip joints moving up to my windshield and I feel my transmission shift gears slowly.

"Well…maybe we should move your things over to my hanger…" my tone suggests it's an order, an order made in desperation.

Ironhide shifts pulling me toward, and through the door beside me. We are inside the main workshop, Wheeljack's workshop, Ironhide slams the door pushing the lock down. I spin around slowly holding my hands up "Ironhide…" I want us to slow down I want us to stop, but at the same time I can't say either. I want it just as bad as I want to stop it.

He growls towards me "Shut up." His growl rolls into a soft purr and I nod finding his hands on my chassis. "Optimus…" He pleads.

I can't hold down my groan at his simple statement of my own designation. "Hide." I groan softly hands reaching up under his chassis armor to pull at his shocks, twisting my servo digits within the springs along his torso.

The topkick's engine revs and I find myself on my back on the floor faster than I recall how my XO got me there. Ironhide struggling to find a place atop me, straddling my hipjoins his legs wrapped around the tires. "Primus." His manifold clicks and he sucks in cool air.

The sound of a vocalizer clearing stops us both dead in our tracks. Ironhide blinks at me and our heads turn to come face to face with something we did not expect. Wheeljack, is standing at the far corner of the hanger against the other, unlocked, door. "Perhaps….there is somewhere other than my own floor for that?" the fins along the scientist's head light up with each word and my head tips back and I sigh. "Sirs." He amends his statement.

"Appologies Wheeljack we should have considered you." I try to cover up my embarrassment as my battlemask slides into place for the first time in a week.

Wheeljack held up a hand "S'not a problem Prime just please…" He regards us both of our faces with a concerning glance. "Sirs…not in my lab." he turns away to give us a moment to compose ourselves and for that I was grateful.

I pushed up off the ground as Ironhide lumbers back off of my body standing at my feet as I sat up. Looking up I find his hand outstretched for me. I hold up a hand and shake my head content to pull myself up but as my servo waves he clasps his digits around my palm and pulls me forward to my feet. I do not protest only give him a smile, and shake my head as I look down at him he's got this smug look on his faceplates.

We exit out the door we entered from, as quickly as we can, leaving wheeljack alone. I worry for a moment looking down to my stabilizers as I walk. "Makes ya feel like a youngling again doesn't it…getting caught like that?" His question punctuated with a laugh. I shake my head in disbelief of his behavior. I don't know how to answer him but my emotions should be answer enough. My embarrassment is apparent, and I feel his hand trail up to my shoulder and he pulls me from my reflections. "I'm sorry yer right we shoulda …" His tone is serious now.

"Been more thoughtful?" I ask turning my head my optics narrow at him for instigating this mess, though I am just as much at fault.

"Was gonna say locked the other door but either way." He shrugs laughing now at the whole ordeal. Ironhide isn't dwelling on it not even phased by it. One of my officers caught his commander and a senior officer half ready to spark on a floor. My servo digits reach up and grab the bridge of my nose I can't believe him right now. Honestly now that it sinks into my programming I'm mortified.

I am so mortified.

* * *

He hasn't touched me since we left Wheeljack's hanger. The pain in my spark increased with the hours. His things are in my hanger now stacked in a corner awaiting an appropriate place to be put away. I lay on the berth on my side optics shuttered In order to try to get some recharge. He's sitting up back against the wall reading a data pad.

He reads an awful lot of human military war books, novels and things. I think the only reason he had WheelJack rig him up a television was to watch the human's History channel. I rather enjoy it myself but right now I can't recharge, he's reading, lights are up and I can't relax at all. I feel his servo against the back of my helm his servo digits trail over my audio finials softly and I open my optics. "Am I keeping you up?" his tone is soft and quiet.

"Yes." I utter knowing he'd know a lie if I spoke it. "However If you wish to continue to read do so…I will fall into recharge eventually." Before I can say another word he's set the datapad aside and lowered the lights.

"Naw you're tired." His voice is still quiet, and thoughtful. I feel him slide down to my side and he pulls me closer. The pang in my spark shifts and he grunts. I know he's feeling the discomfort too. "Primus …"

"I know…" I utter "Hurts."

"More than hurts." He said lying on his back. I shift now to clamber atop him. His servo digits wrap around my upper arms and my servos dive under his grill and grab at his suspension springs again. I pull hard. He reaches a hand in between the glass on my chassis and he toys with my alternator. I hiss as his servo's index digit trails down my serpentine belt to my Tensioner.

My Intakes hiss and I groan as his fingers pull the circular part down and then release it letting my belt snap back into place. "primus!" I shake my helm and look down at him my intakes panting. "Our bodies are telling us what our processors don't wish to hear." I gasp at the sharp slam of my spark against its own chamber walls from desperation and Ironhide's teasing.

"Face me." He says through ragged breaks in his speech. I nod slowly and groan as my chest slams open as if not willed by me. Ironhide's is not far behind I watch it slam back as I have many times before but our systems are doing nothing like I have ever felt and from his feelings, what I can judge from the bond, he's a bit scared of what's going on too. We are willing to let it happen we have to.

My body crests down over his and my servos clamp down under his grill onto something. I'm not sure what it is but I feel it snap under my grasp, and I hear Ironhide scream. I can't stop my systems now as our chassis interlock our helms crash together and I can't restrain myself and I feel cables come out from around my chamber and interlock into his primary systems. I can feel his pain, his anguish, but I flood our bond with as much adoration as I can muster, as much love as I can because I've hurt him and our bodies have gone into something we cannot stop, so we must hold out until it's over.

"The matrix" He growls intakes hitching and my systems take over his a moment regulating our systems to sync up.

As our systems reach their crest and cycle as one body, I cry out. The over load crests over the data tracks. My HUD flashes warnings left and right and I clear them back, only to realize my optics have dimmed in the overload that sends Ironhide's systems offline, and mine struggling to cycle both bodies. I gasp the matrix keeping me from falling under. I struggle though as our chassis separate and I fall beside him face down on the berth. We're still connected by cables and my systems are still regulating him, but our chassis are apart.

My helm turns and I can see what has happened to him. I've broken his tie rod; the entire thing is split. I groan and look over his shoulder and the tire is flat. I can only guess I've cracked the bearing to. I roll onto my side and shake him softly. "Hide." I groan "Ironhide." Getting no response I lay back softly and click my radio. "Ratchet."

"This is Ratchet." The radio replies. "Ironhide hurt you?" He laughs and is joking but I can't make a joke, my tone is nothing but serious.

"I need you at my hanger Ironhide…I've hurt him." Energon seeps from my optics slowly and I an hear Ratchet's tone change.

"I'm on my way Prime….Hold on." I can't stay online anymore I try to fight my optics, to keep them online, but I fall unable to stay out of recharge.

And though I try...I can't ...fight...the impending ...black.

* * *

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